Keeping things running at peak efficiency

After you write your plan the next step is to set up alerts and reminders.

Most investors don’t have the time or interest in keeping track of their investments on a regular basis, so automated alerts come in handy.

I use Marketwatch.com for my email alerts, but there are other ways to do this. Ask your broker to show you how to use their system for setting up alerts.

Generally speaking, I set alerts to notify me if one of my holdings declines by a predetermined percent. Most often, I use 7%, but you can decide what your level of comfort will be. If that stock, fund, or ETF declines by 7% from the original purchase price, I get an email. In most cases, I’ll sell the position right away.

You can set alerts for price changes, news stories, economic developments, or anything else that you believe might have an impact on your investments. For example, I use Google alerts to notify me when there is news on any of my holdings. I also use them to notify me when one of the pundits I follow publishes a new article or speaks to a gathering.

Reminders are nothing more than calendar alerts that you use to stay on top of your housekeeping. For example, I check my asset allocation every 3 months, so I have a calendar reminder for that. I check the unemployment report when it comes out, so I have a reminder for that. There are several other things I need to be reminded of, but you get the picture.

If you're not sure what you need for reminders or alerts, start with everything you can think of, and then begin to eliminate the ones that you find not to be helpful.